Crochet Pattern Giveaway and Designer Interview

I’m excited to be able to offer you a couple of free crochet patterns here via a giveaway. Melissa of Missy B. Designs is here to tell us a little bit about her crochet life and to offer two really cute patterns (including one of your own choosing). Read the interview and then check out how to enter below.

About MissyBDesigns

Missy B Designs is the Etsy shop where Melissa sells her super cute crochet patterns. She’s been a pattern designer for about eight years. About one third of the patterns in the shop are for the most adorable kids’ clothes. I especially love her girls’ dresses. She also has a nice selection of crochet animal patterns, crochet hat patterns for both boys and girls and some other little goodies. The vibe from the store is fun, energetic and playful but not in any kind of ooey-gooey way. I like it. Let’s learn more from Melissa herself …

Interview with Melissa

CROCHETBLOGGER: When did you start crocheting? How did you learn?

MELISSA: I started crocheting when I was in Junior High, except that I was really bad at it. I just taught myself from a book my mom had, so it was pretty experimental. And scary.

CROCHETBLOGGER: I wish I’d started teaching myself that young! So is starting so young how you got into creating your own crochet patterns?

MELISSA: I didn’t crochet much after high school, but once I was married and having kids I really got back into it. But I’ve never really liked to follow instructions, so I pretty much just used my kids as human guinea pigs for years while I created the most interesting combinations of yarn imaginable. Luckily, each odd creation brought me closer to actual useable patterns that actually fit and look good.

CROCHETBLOGGER: You’ve been on Etsy since 2008. Have you seen any changes in it in the past four years?

MELISSA: YES. I first started my Etsy shop with just bows (like 5 million other women). But I failed miserably at it (like 4,999,999 other women). So my shop sat empty for a few years, until about a year ago I started listing my patterns. I think that in the time that has passed since I first joined Etsy the products have gotten a little better as more serious artists/creators/designers build their shops and become successful. It’s really fun to see all the high quality and creative stuff that’s out there now.

CROCHETBLOGGER: I absolutely agree. I could easily get lost on Etsy for days! What was the toughest part of starting your Etsy store? What has been the biggest joy?

MELISSA: My favorite part of having the shop is when people email me pictures of their finished creations using my patterns. I LOVE seeing other people use my patterns – it’s just an awesome feeling. The downside of having a shop is it’s really hard to get enough traffic because Etsy is just so huge.

CROCHETBLOGGER: I’m sure it’s awesome to see what people made with your patterns. I know some crochet designers share that on their sites (with permission from the crafter) and it’s always cool to see. Do you sell your patterns anywhere else?

MELISSA: I sell a few patterns on Ravelry, and I have some set up to sell at Craftsy once they have their pattern shop running. But ALL of my patterns are in my Etsy shop.

CROCHETBLOGGER: Do you want to share anything about how your kids have inspired your creativity?

MELISSA: Let’s just say that if I didn’t have kids, I wouldn’t even crochet. (Which would be sad, because I’ve found that I really love it.) They inspire pretty much EVERYTHING I make. But they’re so used to being the recipients of my test patterns now that when I get something new done they pretty much react with a “big whoopee, so what?” type of response. So now I just keep a stash of the best stuff to use for their friends’ birthdays.

CROCHETBLOGGER: You mentioned that crochet pattern design is a stress reliever … can you tell us a little bit about these benefits of the craft?

MELISSA: Most of the time my brain doesn’t like to turn off. So I’ll try to relax, but it just doesn’t work when my brain is still worrying about everything. But when I crochet, it forces my brain to think about other stuff. Better stuff. And it also keeps my fingers busy. And I find that THAT is exceptionally relaxing. Plus, it always gives me an excuse to plug into Netflix (and you can never go wrong with that).

CROCHETBLOGGER: I’m guilty of over-Netflixing while I crochet for sure! What do you think is your toughest pattern to follow?

MELISSA: The dragon puppet (show above) is my toughest pattern. There’s just so much going on that it’s like it’s switching stitches and directions all over the place. However, it’s also really cute.

CROCHETBLOGGER: If you could make sure people know one thing about crochet, what would it be?

MELISSA: I think I would want people to know that crocheting is fun, and pretty easy, and extremely versatile. I think that knitting kind of steals all the yarn crafting thunder, but crocheting is actually what all the cool kids are doing.

CROCHETBLOGGER: Is there anything else that you want us to know?

MELISSA: I don’t just create crochet patterns, and if anyone is interested in the other crap I do they can check it out at melissabastow.com.

What We’re Giving Away

Okay, now that you know a little bit more about Melissa, let’s talk about her crochet patterns that we’re giving away. We’re giving two patterns away to one winner.

The first pattern is the one that I chose because I thought it looked really cute and wanted to offer it. It’s called the Daphne and it can be worked short as a top or longer as a girl’s dress. It’s single crochet with some ruffle detail and a flower and I think it’s oh-so-cute.

For the second pattern, you actually get to choose ANY pattern from her Etsy store. Here are four examples of your options:

@icrochetinoh Hm. Not sure what the problem was. Did you login (top right of the Rafflecopter screen?) Did you click that you had completed that one? I’ve gone ahead and disabled the “mandatory” option on that first entry type so that all options should appear to everyone until we can get this sorted out. So you should be able to do the others now. Let me know if you have problems.

@CrochetBloggerI did log andf then I clicked that I completed the first one and it would not move on. it just stayed there, so I clicked it again and same thing. It was weird. I got the email that you disbled the other items

@icrochetinoh Weird. I haven’t identified the problem. Most people seem to be able to do it just fine but @LauraLook also had problems. If you complete the other steps and it doesn’t register in Rafflecopter then feel free to add a comment here telling me the number of entries to add for you and I’ll include them when I choose the winner.

@LauraLook I’m not seeing any problems on my end but @icrochetinoh also mentioned having an issue. Can you guys let me know what browser you’re using? (such as Internet Explorer)? In the meantime, you can do the tasks and then add an extra comment here telling me what you did (one comment with all the info is fine) and I’ll add it to the mix before I pick the winner.

@CrochetBlogger @LauraLook @icrochetinoh Thank you very much. I have tried in both FireFox and Internet Explorer. I have had both troubles and successes with rafflecopter on other sites as well, so I’m not sure what the problem could be. Here are my extra entries. Thanks!